🍇 what strange things grow from little seeds 🍇

[graftage]

WHO: Steinbeck and....YOU!
WHAT: Random effects time! And random Steinbeck prompt times! (IF YOU WANT A PERSONAL STARTER PLEASE ASK/DM!)
WHEN: Summer mid to Summer end
WHERE: Everywhere
WARNINGS: some attempted superpower self harm in one prompt but otherwise nothing else (will update as needed)



1. "Everything you touch ends up with glitter on it, and every time you sneeze, confetti comes out"

ACHOO-!

[Whoah there, that's a whole sneeze and a half. If you're walking by Steinbeck's farm, you may notice him walking up, looking a bit miserable as he wipes his nose, which...looks glittery. Actually, a lot of him looks glittery.]

Ugh, what is this...some kinda cold... [He's murmuring, looking up as he sees someone and waves.] Hey, are you feeling sick at all? I keep just...s...s-sn...

[Oh no.]

ACHHOOOO-!

[And now you're covered in confetti. Whoops.]


2. "A sports announcer voice narrates every significant event in your interaction with others."

[Later after that whole nonsense (and still a little glittery) Steinbeck can be found at the grocery store, poring over the wares. He's grabbed a few things for cooking, looking over a couple of packs of cookies, and he turns to whoever is nearby with a smile-]

[Except he doesn't speak. Because what speaks is a very loud and eager announcement, booming as if its coming over some intercom that clearly is not there.]

AND HERE WE GOOOO-!!! JOHN STEINBECK HAS MET THE EYES OF A HANDSOME AND BEAUTIFUL INDIVIDUAL ACROSS THE AISLE. NOW BRAD, ALTHOUGH HE'S GOT THAT WHOLE TRACK RECORD FROM LAST YEAR ON HIS PLATE, FORTUNES MAY TURN FOR HIM YET! LET'S SEE WHAT HE DOES NEXT-!

[Steinbeck. Freezes like a deer in headlights. (WHO'S BRAD?)]


3. and better things will sprout, won't they? (tw: attempted self harm for superpower purposes)

[He's really trying hard to stay in the shadows here - if you happen to be out in the evening close to the woods, you may see Steinbeck trying to sneak in there with something in both hands. One of them happens to be a knife, the other, a small cloth bag.]

[He doesn't seem to think anyone is following him, even as he casts his gaze over his shoulder a couple times. Once he finds a clearing, he shifts open his collar with a finger, before he flicks open his knife.]

[He moves to raise it directly to his neck, as if he's going to jab it at his own skin.]

[Are you going to stop him, or are you going to watch-?]


4. WILDCARD

[get your personal starters here if you want!! Steinbeck is still open for scavenger hunt and mine shenanigans or whatever you want to do with him!]

Comments

3

[framestory]

[ Ellis catches a glimpse of someone with... a knife? And a bag? Huh. With the recent spooky house in the forest, he wonders what's happening, so he decides to follow.

...

He is absolutely watching instead of stopping him when he gets there though. ]

[graftage]

[The knife jab is quick, pressing the tip of it under the skin with a practiced maneuver that betrays he probably has done this more times than he can count. He flicks the knife closed to pocket it. After that, with blood trickling down his neck, he pulls out what appears to be a seed from his bag to place into the wound.]

[And waits.]

[But nothing happens.]

...Come on.

[framestory]

[ ?????

Excuse me? Sir. What the ever living fuck?! Ellis just stares wide eyed and decides to wait a little longer... is he going to die? Why is he just standing there?! Ellis has so many questions. ]

2..........

[dailycooking]

[Ayato is fully prepared to offer a neutral-but-friendly gesture in return, because small talk at a grocery store seems inevitable and it's best to get into people's good graces in a community as small as this...

But then someone starts yelling out of nowhere, and not even Ayato is expecting that. There's a lengthy pause, but then...]

Oya? I wonder if beautiful is just their opinion, or if it's shared...?

[He's not laughing at John, he's laughing at... the situation...? Also, who's Brad? Where is he?]

[graftage]

[He looks more and more frustrated as the time ticks on, even slapping his hand over the wound as if to shove the seed in further.]

Come on.

[But nothing happens.]

[graftage]

I...

[He's actually genuinely flummoxed, glancing around as if he can somehow spot the Very Mysterious Announcer, and failing utterly.]

I-I have no idea what that was. [Oh my godddd. He is also ignoring the question THANK YOU!!!] What the hell-?

[framestory]

[ Ellis... honestly doesn't have much of an opinion on Steinbeck other than he can be funny at times, but this is a little concerning. He's not sure what he's trying to do, but then he steps on a twig.

He has no idea about sounds though. He's deaf, so he just keeps staring from a distance. ]

[graftage]

[It's not working, why isn't it-]

[And then that snap comes.]

[He turns on his heel, looking directly at where Ellis is. In the low light its hard to see, but he's stamping forward anyways, even as the blood continues to trickle down his neck, staining his clothes.]

Hey! Hey, who's there-!?!

[OH LORD HE'S COMING - he's already reaching out to try to grab Ellis by the shoulder.]

[framestory]

[ He can't tell what Steinbeck is saying, but his body language makes it very clear that Ellis should probably leave... right now. He tries to speed off and tries to climb one of the taller trees in the forest. ]

[graftage]

Don't you-!

[But there he goes. Shit. But Steinbeck, undeterred, moves to the tree and starts to climb right after him - unfortunately, he's quite nimble, so he's making good time on the catchup as he tries to grab Ellis by the leg or shoe.]

Where the hell do you think you're going!?

[framestory]

[ Good thing Steinbeck is nimble! Because Ellis definitely doesn't fit into that definition. He will be able to grab onto Ellis's ankle, but Ellis feels adrenaline flow throughout him, which enable him to attempt a sharp kick to get Steinbeck's hand off.

Oh, and he's screaming very loudly. He might want to do something about that. ]

2

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya was just going to say hi! That's all! He has his hand raised and everything and then that thunderous voice comes screaming from the heavens and he freezes with an identical bewildered expression.

Not until it's been silent for a good minute does he slowly look around for... some sort of source. And then settles his gaze back on Steinbeck.]

You... wouldn't happen to have some sort of communicator on you? [What the fuck was that.]

1

[unsync]

[ It's like you can hear the deflating party noises as Ryuki blearily squints, clearly unhappy with being sneezed on, let alone getting somehow confetti'd into oblivion. Good thing none of it got in his eye(s), which is the most important part. ]

Sorry, what was the question?

[graftage]

[Wow now he's SCREAMING? As if he thinks he's going to kill him or something?]

[Steinbeck gets thrown off a little by the kick, the heel managing to strike at his wrist, and he hisses, again trying to move to grab the other. He's fully ignoring how much blood has trickled out of his wound by now, also focused all from the rage of adrenaline.]

Can you stop?! I'm not planning to hurt you, idiot!

[graftage]

[HE IS. CLOSING HIS EYES IN EXASPERATION.]

........I was. Asking if you were feeling sick at all. [A beat.] Sorry.

[graftage]

[Steinbeck is looking around wildly, still trying to find the source, before finally fixing his eyes back on Syrlya.]

....No! No, I don't! I'm not just hearing things, right?

[framestory]

[ Unfortunately he can't hear, so if Ellis doesn't see lips moving, no one is speaking. But when Steinbeck grabs his other foot, Ellis loses his grip on the trees and unceremoniously falls.

At least thay got him to stop screaming because pain. ]

[graftage]

[Oh.]

[Well.]

Shit-!

[He's not actually as worried about Ellis as much as he's worried that THIS LOOKS HELLA BAD FOR HIM. Steinbeck leaps down, ignoring how woozy he's starting to feel, before going over to bend down and grasp him by the collar.]

You really are an idiot-! What the hell-!

[framestory]

[ He's not sure what Steinbeck means by that, but people grabbing him by the collar isn't entirely new and usually associated with future harm, so he attempts to slap Steinbeck's face to get him to let go. ]

[graftage]

[He gets slapped - that only seems to make his eyes go sharp like knives, and although his cheek stings, he's not letting go.]

I'm not trying to kill you! Can you calm down for one second-!

[framestory]

[ He is trying, even forcibly using his own powers to try to calm down, but his adrenaline still runs high so it's taking an Effort. He's no longer struggling, but he's staring wide eyed at those sharp eyes. ]

[graftage]

[After a moment, he roughly lets Ellis go, his own chest heaving. Blood is covering his whole shoulder, now, his vision blurry. Hey. Maybe that's just the...adrenaline...?]

Whatever you saw, just forget about it, okay?

[framestory]

[ He can't just forget about it, but he doesn't want to be attacked, so he'll just. Nod. Will he actually keep it? Maybe. Depending.

He sees that there's so much blood covering his shoulder, so he attempts to stabilize the blood flow from within Steinbeck. He doesn't have to channel through anything like gesturing towards him or having to touch—as long as he's within distance, he can use his stabilization powers.

But whether it works is up to you on an ooc level, so feel free to decide how much of it is effective! ]

[graftage]

[Ah.]

[Something's coming over him. Its a weird sensation. People with healing abilities are the rarest of the rare, and he's never had a chance to be at the other end of one. He furrows his eyebrows, but even as the warm feeling moves through him, his head seems like its in the clouds. Everything is going dark.]

[Steinbeck falls to his knees, before collapsing entirely, conked out.]

[framestory]

[ Unfortunately, it's not a healing ability. If it was a real healing method, he'd be much satisfied, but alas. When Steinbeck collapses, he continues to keep the stabilization running to prevent Steinbeck from bleeding out. He wishes he could call someone for aid, but he's deaf and can't even speak properly. He's also weak, so he can't effortlessly carry Steinbeck in his arms.

...

Fuck it. He's (not) sorry about Steinbeck's clothes, so he'll start dragging him by the legs to his house. Thankfully, it's not too far off despite being in rural area, since it's close to the forest. This man might threaten him into secrecy later, but he'd rather not bury another person so soon.

Much later, he eventually gets Steinbeck into his very nice home with full upgrades while keeping his blood flow stabilized. Not a drop of blood poured out ever since he enabled stabilization and he's honestly quite exhausted about it. Unfortunately, he gets dumped into the bathtub with a towel for a pillow just in case he bleeds out again. The distance that his power works isn't that large, so he makes sure to stay next to Steinbeck until the wound closes. In the meantime, he got his first aid kit on the way to try and clean and disinfect the wound. Seeds... grape seeds? He has something similar and he has grape starters in his greenhouse, so he recognizes them. Anyway, those are being taken out to cleanse more thoroughly and then he puts an ointment around the wound, slaps a gauze over it, and keeps it there while wrapping bandages around his neck. The little grape seeds are on the edge of the bathtub.

He still has the power on as he sleeps while resting his head on the edge of the bathtub because he doesn't need to be conscious for it, but damn. He knows he's going to absolutely feel the results when he wakes up. It's whatever. He's trying to keep Steinbeck from bleeding out by not letting blood leave and go on its merry way inside the usual path. It's fine. It's fine.

That said, if Steinbeck wakes up and leaves Ellis's vicinity, he'll start bleeding again since the wound hasn't closed. Ellis is really just waiting for that. ]